Perceptions
by lark lavroc
Summary: A Kaiba centric vignette.


Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Gi Oh nor any of its characters. This is merely for fun and I gain no profit from it. 

Author's Note: Well, here's my very first Kaiba fic. Hope I got Kaiba's character alright. 

ETA: Thanks **LuckyLadyBug66 **for the correct name. Could've sworn I saw that one on a site, but oh well. Thanks for the review **Princess Fluffy** and **Peaches of Doom**, it's good to know my characterisations are alright. Especially when I'll be writing more Kaiba fic. ^^

Perceptions

Mokuba could never remember a time when his big brother was not there, encouraging him, entertaining him. Protecting him. His presence was one of nature's mysteries, always there, always alive and always cherishing. But like Mother Nature, sometimes his big brother dealt out cruelty and chaos in equal measures. Some would say more than that even, but to Mokuba, his big brother was his big brother. And no matter what he did, Mokuba would always love and support him. Just like he did when Mokuba was too small to defend himself. 

Their parents had died when Mokuba was too young to remember. All he knew was that one day, Seto took his hand and told him they needed to go somewhere else. Mokuba had been confused; he wanted to know why. Seto had patiently held his hand and gently said, "It's just us now, Mokuba." 

Seto then led them to the orphanage. 

It was different there. More noisier, less private -- an entirely different world to the one Mokuba was used to. But most of all, in this world Mokuba had a burden to bear. It had been explicitly clear to Mokuba that the only reason Seto stayed in the orphanage was because of him. Time after time interested parents would come and enthusiastically talk with Seto, unduly impressed by his intelligence. They said he was a genius and wanted him as their own. But his big brother would decline, explaining in that way of his that he "would never go without his little brother". It made Mokuba ache. Sooner or later Seto would want out of the orphanage and not even the thought of leaving Mokuba was going to stop him. He was going to lose his big brother and there was nothing he could do about it. 

Seto had different ideas though. "I'm not going without you," he would say fiercely during one of the few times when Mokuba would try to convince him to go. Mokuba could only cry. He knew what Seto said, Seto meant. He never broke his promises, but it wasn't until Gozaburo Kaiba came that he realized Seto was determined to keep them together. No matter the cost. 

Some would call his brother determined. Focused. Obsessive. They would even say it was a bad thing, that sooner or later Seto would collect enough enemies to finish him off. But Mokuba called them fools and know-it-alls who were just jealous of his big brother's success. They never knew how his brother's focus helped him survive Gozaburo Kaiba. No, only Mokuba knew, and that was just from the few glimpses his big brother had not managed to hide. He knew Seto would have hated Mokuba knowing. It would be proof that his big brother had failed to protect him and this Mokuba could not allow. Not after the price Seto had paid to keep them together. 

No. What he wanted was for his big brother to realize that he was perfect. His big brother was the best in every way. Losing his title, losing to Pegasus and losing to Yugi again was nothing. In Mokuba's eyes, Seto had won. And nothing was going to change that. Seto Kaiba was his big brother and he was perfect. 

***

Loss was not a foreign concept to Kaiba. From his childhood he had known the power it held and the way it could disrupt life. He had tasted the bitterness of its consequence and for most of his adolescence he strove to rid as much control it had over him as he could. Losing was not something he could afford. It meant defeat, humiliation and pain; Gozaburo was a master at that. But he did the unthinkable. He underestimated Kaiba and that was the beginning of his downfall. What the old man hadn't counted on was Kaiba adapting to the game. Surviving. Winning. The fool managed to last as long as he did because Kaiba still needed the time to finalise his plans and double check to make sure things would go according to his outline. It worked. He had to give credit to the old man; he knew when he was beat. 

Yugi...now Yugi was an opponent he hadn't defeated. Luck had everything to do with it, or so he liked to think. Deep inside though, he knew it was more than luck and that gnawed at his soul. Even under the thumb of the old man he was never defeated. Driven to back down, regroup and rethink, perhaps. But defeated? Never. Now loss after loss to Yugi was all he could think about. Time after time Yugi would come back after a devastating blow and win it all. It was mind boggling. It was infuriating. Kaiba hated it. Pegasus' win had never aggravated Kaiba as much as Yugi's. 

For Kaiba's piece of mind, he needed to win. To retain his reputation he needed to obliterate Yugi's. To show he could triumph over anything...and be the person Mokuba admired, he had to be ruthless. Mokuba was everything to him. The only family he had left and practically the only family he ever needed. He had to be strong. To prove he was what Mokuba envisioned in the only way he knew how: by winning. 


End file.
